Are monster cables worth the price?

[Ricochet]

Back in the days I got caught in the Monster hype. Paid $140 for a state-of-the-art toslink cable. As compared to a $12 cable: absolutely no difference whatsoever. It was quite a decorative piece, however.

Please don't point out to me about digital signal. I was a fool and yes, money has parted.

 

[thegimp03]

From my experience, no. They do the same as regular old generic cables.

 

[imported_Imp]

No. They are overpriced to appeal to people who don't know jack yet have money. "This will make your new $50000 Bose system play better". Just search for this on AVS forums, majority will tell you it's not. Hell, they're using lamp wire over there.

I should also add that I do own $30 of 30' 16-gauge speaker wire. Picked up a new system and the store pretty much only had monster and something that looked incredibly cheap at the time. In retrospect, I should have went with the 50' of $10 cable. Now I have an unused $20 spool sitting on a shelf.

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: engineereeyore

Not that anyone else is listing their qualification so people know they really know what they're talking about, but I am an electrical engineer and have a pretty good understanding of conduction and signal degradation.

Since you are an EE, can explain to us all what you expect the benefits of an analog Monster Cable (such as a stereo audio or component video) would be versus a generic (e.g. monoprice.com) cable of equivalent gauge (and braid coverage for the video cables) copper in terms of conduction and/or signal degradation?

 

[marincounty]

If you are into diy you might try http://www.percyaudio.com/.
Has high-end wire and connectors to build your own, or he will build them for a fee.
Also lots of high-end capacitors and resistors and stuff to mod your speakers and components.

 

[Rubycon]

It's been said before -

Look under the hood of your amp/receiver and see what kind of wire is running from the finals to the terminals.

The connection points themselves are often ignored and frequently a sore spot for trouble. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

 

[Amused]

I've done blind tests on my, and my brother's AV systems. We could not detect the difference between Monster, AR cables and no-name cheapies.

It's snake oil, folks.

 

[Apex]

I'd say depends.

If you can get accomodation pricing (60-70% off), some of their products are worthwhile.

Some of their products are built well, and if you can get them for the same pricing as other cabling, there's no reason not to.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
It's been said before -

Look under the hood of your amp/receiver and see what kind of wire is running from the finals to the terminals.

The connection points themselves are often ignored and frequently a sore spot for trouble. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

That is a great point!

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: engineereeyore

Originally posted by: mugs
The question is "are Monster Cables worth the price?" Not "are Monster Cables good quality?" If you can get equal (and better) quality cables for less money, I'd say that pretty much means they're not worth the price... right?

You don't even have to order from Monoprice.com, you could just get the Acoustic Research cables they sell in stores for half the price of the Monster Cables if you're in a hurry.

There was also a question of "what would you buy? high, medium, or cheapest crap I could find?" Therein is the reason for the rest of my response. I would buy high/medium/cheapest cables based upon the type of system I have. Monster are very high quality, though overpriced, but I'd still use them IF my system was high enough quality to justify a need for high quality cabling.

Why would you use Monster Cables when you can get better cables for less money?

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: fLum0x

Originally posted by: Gibson486
no.

do explain.

Text

What an excellent site Gibsons!!! I laughed at the conclusion:

We have been told by advertising that the exotic speaker wires offer fabulous advantages over ordinary lamp cord. It would seem reasonable that using this same wire for lamps would also enhance their performance. In the same vein as wire literature, you can have your light bulb reproduce light faithfully, finally allowing you see light the way it should be seen and bring out the natural performance of your table lamp. It may offer greater warmth, detail, brilliance, definition and speed by providing wider bandwidth and reduced skin effect. Just imagine what it might do for your electric razor and microwave!